puny: [16] Etymologically, puny means ‘born later’. It was borrowed from Old French puisne, a compound adjective formed from puis ‘afterwards’ and ne ‘born’ (a relative of English native, nature, etc). This signified ‘junior’, in which sense it was originally acquired by English as puisne. This spelling survives (albeit pronounced the same as puny) as a term denoting a judge of junior rank, and the anglicized orthography has since the 18th century been reserved to ‘feeble, small’. => nation, native, nature
puny (adj.)
1570s, "inferior in rank" (1540s as a noun, "junior pupil, freshman"), from Middle French puisné (Modern French pu?né), from Old French puisne "born later, younger, youngest" (12c., contrasted with aisné "first-born"), from puis nez, from puis "afterward" (from Vulgar Latin *postius, from Latin postea "after this, hereafter," from post "after," see post-, + ea "there") + Old French né "born," from Latin natus, past participle of nasci "be born" (Old Latin gnasci; see genus). Sense of "small, weak, insignificant" first recorded 1590s. Compare puisne. Related: Puniness.
例文
1. The lamb was a puny little thing.
ラムは痩せて弱っている。
2.Have grandiose aims but puny abilities,great ambition but little talent.
目が高くて手が弱く、志が大きくて才能が疎い.
3.We did not meet again for ten years,by then,the rather puny boy had grown into a six-foot man,weighing 200 pounds.